Half Of A Network

[seekermeister]

Since installing a new router yesterday, I have not been able to access my secondary computer from the primary, except that sometimes,when it feels like it, it will acess media files via wmpnetwork. When I go to the Network Map, it does show the secondary, but clicking on it does nothing. On the other hand, the secondary has the same accessibility that it had with the old router.

I thought that it might be due to the firewall blocking it somehow, but exiting the firewall changes nothing. The router appears to be working properly, so I'm at a loss at what the problem is? I have gone through the Homegroup and Network settings, changing them around, but again nothing changes in terms of the problem. If something occurs to anyone as a possibility to change or check, I'm all ears.

 

[CommonTater]

Since installing a new router yesterday, I have not been able to access my secondary computer from the primary, except that sometimes,when it feels like it, it will acess media files via wmpnetwork. When I go to the Network Map, it does show the secondary, but clicking on it does nothing. On the other hand, the secondary has the same accessibility that it had with the old router.

I thought that it might be due to the firewall blocking it somehow, but exiting the firewall changes nothing. The router appears to be working properly, so I'm at a loss at what the problem is? I have gone through the Homegroup and Network settings, changing them around, but again nothing changes in terms of the problem. If something occurs to anyone as a possibility to change or check, I'm all ears.

What operating systems are these machines on?

I ask because you won't have much luck with Home Networking on a network with mixed operating systems... Homegroups is an "all Win7" deal.

You might have a lot more luck working with XP style Workgroups...

 

[seekermeister]

I am staying in W7 on both machines for the time being. Prior to the router replacement, the network was Home. Since the program popped up, I have tried Work, also thinking about networking across platforms, but still in W7 on both machines. I haven't the confidence to start actually trying to work cross platforms yet though. I want to get one working properly, before tackling others.

 

[Duke of Alinor]

File sharing with Win7 in a mixed environment can be a long and painful path.
I suggest from a fresh Win7 install head to a common workgroup, NOT a homegroup. Set up each computer with the same logon/pass. Map drives with \\computername\sharedfile seems to work consistently.
Win7 network map and sharing does not work for everyone. Also be sure to check with an XP machine or preferably a Mac for Win7 sharing you don't want shared.

 

[seekermeister]

The network map and sharing worked okay, until yesterday. I'm not inclined to reinstall the OSs at this time, unless I become convinced there is no other solution. I vaguely recall the option to set the workgroup during installation, but always left it set at the default, because I never dealt with a network until recently. Can't a workgroup be renamed without reinstalling? If not, that doesn't seem right, because if I understand, that is merely a name...isn't it?

 

[chev65]

Most likely the problem is with your AV software or your third party firewall. Turned off or not they can still cause problems. This fact has played itself out so many times I've lost count. Uninstalling them is the only way sometimes. If you are using only Win 7 machines then Homegroups should work absolutely perfectly for you.

 

[seekermeister]

This I'm more inclined to try, because my AV and firewall are combined. That would be a lot easier than reinstalling the OS.

 

[seekermeister]

chev65,

As it turns out, you were correct. I uninstalled OP on both machines and the full network was visible and accessible on both machines. Unfortunately, I replace OP with the OP Beta 7, and now neither machine can see the other. Since this is now clearly an Outpost problem, I will post a question about it on their forum, however I'm still all ears here.

 

[seekermeister]

I suspended OP on both machines, and refreshed the network, and both machines saw either other properly, but when resuming OP protection and refreshing the network, both machines became blind to the other again. I did post on the Outpost forum about this, but if it goes like last time, I doubt that there will be a clear cut solution, but I'm still hoping.

 

[Jacee]

Is Outpost in "learning" mode?

 

[seekermeister]

Yes.

 

[chev65]

I wish I knew more about setting up third party firewalls or just outpost in general but I wouldn't know where to begin. Seems like outpost should be able to handle this, not sure why it's not working.